'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' recap: 'Sweet Dee Gets Audited'

First of all, Dee is getting audited; but like most things related to Sweet Dee, nobody cares. The writers even made her the subplot, although this week’s plot was already pretty thin to begin with.

Dennis, Mac and Charlie decide they want a democratic system to resolve issues in Bar Policy. This would throw out the time honored tradition of long, drawn-out arguments followed by allowing Frank to make bad decisions on behalf of them all.

Reason Will Prevail: This week’s attempt at a memorable one-liner fell very short. In the spirit of democracy, the guys chant “Reason will prevail,” as a catalyst of their voting system - because if there’s one thing a group of four guys can do, it’s making reasonable group decisions.--With Frank on board for entering the political arena, he busts out his skill of distracting the Gang from important issues like money, and focuses them on some key issues:

Dead Dog in the Alley: Big surprise, there’s a dead animal out behind the bar and nobody wants to claim responsibility on its removal. What’s worse is the debate on whether the half-rotted canine deserves a proper burial – complete with a boom box playing 90’s R&B.

Lime Wedges: Frank points out a very important issue in the thickness of the lime wedges they give with beers. The idea of thinner limes is thrown into the ring – but Charlie feels thinner limes will be a choking hazard.

After a quick vote, the decision ends in a 2-2 tie. So naturally, Dee is sought after for a tie breaker. However, she is busy preparing for her 3 p.m. audit, and informs Mac and Charlie that she needs to produce a baby for the IRS agent to support her claim of a dependent – Barnabas Reynolds.

A baby? That’s no problem for people as twisted as Mac and Charlie, and offer Dee a baby in order to swing her vote. It’s at this point that Mac and Charlie realize by controlling Dee’s Tiebreaker vote, they control the decision-making. Thus, the Pickle Party is born. A radical group within their political spectrum that decides to use pickles instead of lime wedges.

Crucifix: Upon the discovery of the pickle party, Dennis schemes to break them up by tossing split-opinion issues at them to quarrel about amongst themselves. So he submits to vote on the idea of hanging a crucifix in their Irish Bar. Charlie is against the idea, but Mac believes that an Irish-Catholic bar like Paddy’s needs a giant bloody crucifix to remind them of their roots.--All Dennis Wants: Money, the illusion of power….and puss. In probably the worst excuse for trying to sneak in a plot element, Frank and Dennis try to form an alliance against the Pickle Party. In exchange for his loyalty, Frank lets Dennis in on a promotional deal with a new soda brand, Wolf Cola.

Darkest Thing the Gang Has Ever Done: In order to get the IRS off of Dee’s back, therefore keeping them away from Paddy’s books, Dennis decides that a baby funeral is in order. Instead of convincing the IRS that Dee’s baby is alive, it must be a lot easier to convince them that the baby is dead.

Unfortunately, Dee’s inability to cry on cue, and Mac and Charlie’s realization that Dennis and Frank were conspiring against them blows up the entire operation. Even better, Frank decided to kill two birds with one stone and put the dead dog in the fake baby-coffin. You know, to give him a proper burial.